As a French living in the U.S., I have faced many stereotypes and have had to deny most of them. Stereotypes can be offensive, weird, very true, funny, or plain stupid. In any case, they are a part of any experience abroad, so we better get used to it. Overall, I think that stereotypes are interesting, as they force us to reflect on the way we are seen by the rest of the world, for better or for worse. Thus, I will be posting regularly on the topic from various angles.

Concerns over potential invasion of privacy has lawmakers from both parties railing against certain campaign behavior they say is going "too far". As Politico originally reports, House members have sent a letter to both the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and the National Republican Congressional Committee concerning tactics used by political trackers.

As part of our effort to report on social media trends, tools, and technology, we will be periodically recognizing politicians, candidates, and political organizations who are utilizing social media in effective and creative ways. Mayor Cory Booker uses a wide array of social media covering the essentials like Facebook and Twitter in a big way, but widens his outreach by using other sites such as Quora, Flickr, Instagram and Youtube. 

RJ Harris may not be a high profile name outside of "constitutional conservative" circles, but his comments blasting Chick-fil-a supporters as anti-Christian as today's version of the 1960's segregationists could bring some attention to his bid in Oklahoma's 4th Congressional District.

From his campaign website:

President Barack Obama announced new sanctions against Iran's energy and photochemical sectors this week. The sanctions also isolate Iran from two banks, China's Bank of Kunlun and Iraq's Elaf Islamic Bank.

The Romney tax plan has been undergoing heavy scrutiny in the past few days. The GOP presumed-nominee has been under fire as well after his overseas excursion that was intended to tout his foreign policy savvy.

Due of the overwhelming success of our last two tweet chats, we're hosting a third one, to be held next Thursday, August 9th at 11am PST, 2pm EST.

As reported here on IVN on Tuesday, former Texas Solicitor General Ted Cruz defeated Texas Lt. Governor David Dewhurst in the Texas Republican primary runoff for U.S. Senate. With 52.92% of the vote, compared to Dewhurst's 47.07%, Cruz was the Tea Party favorite, running against the Republican backed "establishment politician".